Report: New Boston Archbishop to Be Named

MARTIN FINUCANE

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, June 30, 2003

Associated Press Writer

As leader of the Fall River Diocese, Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley set up new procedures for preventing sex abuse by clergy. In Palm Beach, Fla., he inherited a diocese that had lost two previous bishops to sex scandals.

Now, the 59-year-old Franciscan is reportedly poised to succeed Cardinal Bernard Law as head of the Archdiocese of Boston, epicenter for the clergy sex abuse scandal.

A senior Vatican official told The Associated Press that an announcement was "imminent" and could come Tuesday or Wednesday. Speculation has centered on O'Malley, who spent a decade in Fall River before he was sent to Palm Beach last year. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that O'Malley is a candidate.

In Fall River, O'Malley was sent in to clean up a crisis in the early 1990s when the Rev. James Porter was accused of molesting children. Porter ultimately pleaded guilty to molesting 28 children and was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison.

O'Malley was praised for his handling of the situation and the diocese paid for treatment and medication for Porter's victims.

"There could never be a better person in the country to have this job and to try to bring about real healing in the Archdiocese of Boston," said attorney Roderick MacLeish, who represented 101 of Porter's victims and is also one of the lead lawyers for hundreds of plaintiffs with cases against the archdiocese.

One of Porter's victims, however, said he hadn't been satisfied with his dealings with O'Malley.

"He's slick. He's good public relations. But as far as deep inside, he's not really going to solve the problem," said Frank Fitzpatrick. "The reason is, he's just there to quiet things down."

In Palm Beach, where two prior bishops admitted they were guilty of sexual abuse, O'Malley immediately apologized to victims and took immediate steps to crack down on abuse.

In Boston, however, he would likely find his greatest challenge.

Law resigned last year following revelations he allowed priests accused of molestation to keep serving. The former archbishop was widely criticized for his handling of the scandal that ensnared dozens of priests and eventually spread to dioceses around the country.

Bishop Richard Lennon has been acting as the interim leader of the archdiocese, home to 2.1 million Catholics.

Others who have been mentioned as possible successors to Law include Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, Minnesota's Archbishop Harry Flynn and Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of the U.S. military archdiocese.

The Rev. Richard McBrien, a liberal theologian at the University of Notre Dame said despite all the kudos O'Malley has won for his response to clergy sex abuse, he is still a conservative priest who would be "uncritically loyal to the Holy See and would not veer one millimeter from its policies and teachings on anything."

Some observers expressed surprise that O'Malley may be Boston-bound, since he was only recently sent to Palm Beach.

"It would be very unusual to pull out a bishop from a diocese so quickly, especially one that's had so many problems," said the Rev. Thomas Reese of the Jesuit magazine America.

But Ray Flynn, the former Boston mayor and ambassador to the Vatican, noted that the late Archbishop John O'Connor of New York served less than a year in Scranton, Pa., before being appointed to the New York post in 1984. When O'Connor died in 2000, O'Malley was mentioned as a possible successor.

Flynn described O'Malley as a "very quiet, unassuming courageous guy."

"It's almost like a gift of God for Boston if this announcement is going to be made," he said.

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Associated Press writer Victor L. Simpson contributed to this report from the Vatican.